Local News: Watergate (1974)

Apr. 14, 2009

Written by

Doug Fuhrmann

On the day of his resignation, Richard M. Nixon waves from the steps of his helicopter as he leaves the White House on Aug. 9, 1974. The Watergate scandal forced Nixon to become the first U.S. president to resign from office. / AP/Chick Harrity

More

ADVERTISEMENT

The political scandal that rocked the nation in the 1970s, Watergate centered on a break-in of Democratic headquarters, revealing sabotage and spy efforts by Nixon administration staffers hoping to secure the Republican president’s reelection in 1972.

Nixon, who won a second term, claimed to have no knowledge of the burglary and subsequent cover-up conspiracy. His downfall was the internal recording system, which Nixon himself or-dered installed in the White House.

Tapes revealed that, a week after the 1972 burglary, he discussed diverting the FBI’s Watergate probe. Later ordered to turn over subpoenaed tapes, Nixon’s initial refusal seemed an attempt to thwart justice.

When these transcripts were made public in early August 1974, the Vineland Times Journal, printing them along with most newspapers, called the whole ordeal "sad but hardly surprising."

By that time, the Watergate saga, first broken by a couple of Washington Post reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was familiar to Americans, who remained glued to daily televised proceedings.

So engrossed was the public that while watching proceedings, one Vinelander, Wilma Greis-man, fashioned what she called a "Watergate afghan." Knitted into it were the names of key players, as well as a Watergate vocabulary containing terms like "tapes," "dirty tricks," "hush money" and "cover-up."

Meanwhile, locals with the last name Nixon, such as a South Fourth Street, Millville family, contended with nasty prank phone calls.

The president’s resignation on Aug. 9, 1974, likely took the heat off area residents sharing his name, but not his principles.

It also proved a feather in the cap of Woodward and Bernstein, who became folk heroes after the release of their book, "All the President’s Men," which quickly spawned an award-winning movie.

The book first introduced the existence of "Deep Throat," an informant holding a sensitive posi-tion in the executive branch, who’d guided Woodward’s Watergate investigation during secret meetings and conversations.

Nicknamed for an early ‘70s porno flick, the identity of Deep Throat, remained a secret until 2005 when it was revealed as Mark Felt, a prior top-level FBI man.

You will automatically receive the TheDailyJournal.com Top 5 daily email newsletter. If you don't want to receive this newsletter, you can change your newsletter selections in your account preferences.